Leopold Park
| Leopold Park | |
|---|---|
| Parc Léopold (French) Leopoldspark (Dutch) | |
 The pond with the European Parliament building in the background | |
 | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°50′18″N 4°22′48″E / 50.83833°N 4.38000°E |
| Area | 6.43 ha (15.9 acres) |
| Created | c. 1880 |
| Public transit access | Maelbeek/Maalbeek, Schuman |
Leopold Park (French: Parc Léopold, Dutch: Leopoldspark) is a public park of 6.43 ha (15.9 acres)[1] located within the Leopold Quarter (European Quarter) of Brussels, Belgium. It is adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building, the seat of the European Parliament.[2][3] It is served by the metro stations Maalbeek/Maelbeek and Schuman on lines 1 and 5 of the Brussels metro.
The outstanding feature of the park is its pond, fed by the Maalbeek stream. Many rare trees (remnants of a botanic garden) and animals such as mallards, moorhens, coots, and even Egyptian geese and rose-ringed parakeets thrive in this urban environment.
History
The park was opened to the public in 1880 after the unpopular Jardin Royal de Zoologie ("Royal Zoological Garden") had been removed.[citation needed] During the following years, a campus for the Solvay School of Commerce was established in the park but construction of additional buildings was soon curtailed for fear of encroachment on the park and its fragile wildlife. These buildings have remained to this day but only one still belongs to Solvay (and houses the Solvay Conference). In 1930, the Lycée Émile Jacqmain moved into the former Institute for Physiology.
The former Solvay Library is located in the park and houses the Security & Defence Agenda, Friends of Europe and Maison d'Europe think tanks. In 2017, the House of European History, a history museum, opened in the refurbished Eastman Dental Hospital.[4] The building of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is also located in the park.[5]
- Leopold Park buildings
-
Former Solvay Library -
Former Solvay School of Commerce -
Former Institute of Physiology, venue of the 5th Solvay Congress in 1927 -
Former Eastman Dental Hospital
See also
References
- ^ admin (2015-03-31). "Parc Léopold". Bruxelles Environnement (in French). Retrieved 2019-11-01.
- ^ "Leopold Park". brussels.be. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ "LEOPOLD PARK". sustainablecity.be. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ "About The Bibliothèque Solvay". eua.be. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ "Leopoldpark". europe-cities.com. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
External links
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